Alpha's One Night Bride
Alpha’s One Night Bride – Chapter 57

I was trying my best to register everything being said to me. But I was also feeling a bit delusional after everything I’ve been going through with this pregnancy. I was well enough to get out of bed and walk around, not that I should be, but I certainly wasn’t well enough for what was about to come.

Jonathan was telling me that he was some descendent of Benjamin Davis, the Overseer. Graham apparently had some kind of cufflink that allowed him to see and hear everything at any given time in any pack. Which meant he was probably listening in to their conversation as they spoke. There was a way to diminish the powers of the cufflink, but they had to summon a witch for that to work.

None of that made sense.

The things they were saying were almost laughable.

There was no way any of that could be true, but Ronnie and Jonathan looked so serious as they spoke to me. There were no traces of humor on either of their faces and Ronnie wasn’t good at lying. She always gave it away because she couldn’t keep a straight face.

Now I understood why they wanted me to lie down while they told me all this information. It was heavy and I instantly began feeling lightheaded.

“I don’t understand,” I tried to say, but it came out as a whisper almost inaudible. “How could Jess keep something like that from you?”

Jonathan was quiet for a moment as he thought about his answer to that question. I could tell he’s been beating himself up about the same thing, wondering for himself.

“I want to believe she had my best interest at heart. I want to believe that she kept this from me to protect me…” his voice trailed off as he tried to answer my question.

“But you don’t?” I asked.

He stayed silent for another moment, staring down at his hands as he tried to come up with a better answer to the question.

“I don’t know,” he finally answered.

“I guess both our moms had secrets,” I told him with a soft chuckle, in an attempt to lighten the mood.

It didn’t seem to work though; it only made him look sadder.

“All 3 of them,” Ronnie said, rolling her eyes. Though she had a slight smile as she figured I was only trying to lighten the mood.

“It’s a lot of information,” Jonathan told me gently. “I’m still trying to process it myself. But I also have Sabrebite to take care of and worry about. Apparently, I also have to worry about every other pack too.”

“Because you’re the Overseer?” I asked. This time I said “overseer” in a breathless tone as I thought about everything that could mean.

Jonathan would have the ultimate power. He would be in control of not just Sabrebite, but all the packs. He could keep everyone protected better than the Grey Howlers could. He could also get an inside look at what Rock was planning with their unborn child and why keeping Arina and the baby alive was important to him.

They could stop Rock’s games before anything happens.

She couldn’t help but feel optimistic about it.

“Please stop calling me that,” Jonathan said, sounding annoyed.

I frowned.

“But it’s what you are,” I told him.

“I’m not the Overseer. That role doesn’t exist anymore, and my mother made it quite clear that it wasn’t for me. I just need to get the cufflink back and then figure it out from there,” Jonathan said.

“Jonathan, do you not understand what this could mean?” I asked. Now, I was sounding annoyed.

How could he not want the powers of the Overseer?

Just because he was pissed off that his mom kept this from him, it doesn’t make the news any less true. This could be the life or death of their child; he could have a huge advantage against Rock, and he needed to take it.

“Maybe we should talk about this another time?” Ronnie suggested, cutting in.

I almost forgot she was there.

I sighed out in defeat and nodded in agreement.

“So, who’s this witch we are summoning?” I asked them.

“The Witch of Perception,” Jonathan answered. “Her name is Naomi.”

“And Jess thinks she can summon her?” I asked.

I’ve heard stories about witches in the past, but that’s all I thought they were. Stories.

Nobody in their right mind would think witches were real, but after hearing everything I did about Jess and Jonathan’s bloodline, it almost seemed too silly to not be true.

“She has a book that Naomi gave the Davis family. It basically teaches you about witches and how to summon one. In the book, she wrote how to summon her specifically. It must be during the red moon ceremony. My mother has never tried this before. But yes, she thinks she can do it.”

“I can’t wait to see this,” I breathed, almost excitedly.

Jonathan jumped to his feet, startling me.

“You aren’t seeing anything. You need to stay in here during the ceremony,” he ordered.

I frowned. Shocked at his words.

He expected me to stay inside while the red moon ceremony was taking place in the town? That was absurd. No wolf would dream of missing the ceremony, pregnant or not, I wasn’t planning on missing that ceremony.

“You can’t keep me in here,” I shot at him.

“The hell I can’t,” he barked back; I could see the anger lingering in his eyes. “Arina, it’s too dangerous and you aren’t well. I can’t be worried about you out there while there’s a war going on.”

“It’s not like I’ll be alone. We have the entire town out there. I will return home at the first sign of danger. But Jonathan, I need to attend this ceremony. It’s important.”

That wasn’t a lie, and he understood that. My mother’s favorite ceremony was the red moon ceremony. During that ceremony, we were to pray to the red moon gods and if things went accordingly, they would respond to us.

One of my mother’s favorite things to paint was the red moon; she always said that once she dies, she’s going to become a red moon goddess and watch over me. I always thought that was just my mother being funny because she would laugh when she said it. But she always had that same look of admiration in her eyes when she spoke.

There was a flame that burned within her that always made me wonder if it was true. I always wanted it to be true. So, every red moon, during the ceremony, I would pray to the gods. I hoped that my mother would receive my prayers and speak to me or give me some kind of sign that she was there and that she was well. I wanted proof that she finally made it to where she wanted to go, and she was actually a red moon goddess.

But each year I would fall disappointed as I would not receive any kind of sign or connection with her. It’s been 10 years but that still doesn’t stop me from trying every year.

Jonathan’s eyes softened as he already knew this.

“I know,” he finally said softly. “Okay. But you must stay with Ronnie, and you can’t stray near the forest. It’s far too dangerous. The first sign of danger, you need to get home. If I think for a second that you aren’t doing well, I will take you home myself.”

I smiled up at him as he sat back down at my bedside. I tugged on his shirt until he was close enough to me that I could k**s his cheek.

“Thank you,” I whispered to him. After a breath of silence, I added, “Maybe go easy on your mom? I’m sure it wasn’t easy to keep that a secret all these years. She must have had a good reason as to why she didn’t want you to know.”

He sighed. He knew I was right. But he was also hurt by his mother’s secrecy.

He nodded slowly and before he could say anything more, the bedroom door swung open.

Erick and Jess stood at the doorway; they were both breathless, so we knew they were running. Jess held one of the thickest books I had ever seen; it was a large brown book with golden decals swirled throughout the cover. In the front of the book, in a silvery oval was a white infinity symbol I didn’t quite recognize and then written in white above the symbol read: Book of Magic.

“Woah…” I breathed, staring at the book.

It was real.

“That’s amazing,” I said softly.

Jess looked at the book nervously and then at Jonathan.

“I don’t know for sure if it’ll work,” she admitted.

“We have to try,” he told her.

There was no ounce of compassion in his words. I could tell he was still upset with her, and by the way, she flinched, she could tell as well.

“Thankfully we should be able to find what we need quite easily before the ceremony,” Jess continued. “If all goes well, we will diminish the powers of the cufflink and return it to its rightful owner.” Staring at Jonathan she added, “You.”